TONIGHT: “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes is in charge, so expect him to rub elbows with Legacy, much like Ted DiBiase Sr. did when he was in charge. Three matches announced for tonight: Big Show vs. Mark Henry and Chris Jericho vs. MVP as the four men in the tag title match at Breaking Point face off in singles matches. Plus, it’ll be a Fatal Four-Way for the U.S Title when Kofi Kingston defends against Jack Swagger, The Miz and Carlito.

-WWE Open.

-Raw Open.

-Raw is LIVE in Detroit tonight, where Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole hyped the Fatal Four-Way for the U.S. Title, as well as Mark Henry vs. Big Show.

-Lilian Garcia brought out Dusty Rhodes, tonight’s Raw guest host. Big Dust came out and swiveled his hips to “Common Man.” He came to the ring and got the mic as the crowd cheered for him (“Dusty, Dusty!”). Rhodes talked up Detroit and reminded them he was inducted into the WWE Hall-of-Fame in that city. He said it was a blue-collar city. Rhodes talked about how he was proud of his son, Cody Rhodes (crowd booed), but he said while he doesn’t approve of him hanging around with Randy Orton, there isn’t anything a father wouldn’t do for his son. He said maybe tonight his son will see the light. Then he talked about John Cena’s match at Breaking Point....against his son. Zuh? Then he clarified by saying it would be Cody vs. Orton tonight for the WWE Title. Dusty said he’d be in Cody’s corner. He named Cena as special referee for the match. That brought out Randy Orton, of course.

Orton accused Dusty of being jealous of him, because Cody looks up to him more than he ever looked up to Dusty. He said this is the most pathetic and shameless act he’s ever seen. Orton said Dusty is setting himself up for major disappointment. He asked Dusty why he shouldn’t just kick him in the skull like he did two years ago. He asked for one good reason, but instead, Legacy’s music hit and Cody walked to the ring. Cody said that man Orton kicked in the head two years ago happens to be his father. Cody said Dusty’s legacy runs deeper than Orton’s or his. He said they may be associates, even friends, but this is an opportunity he won’t pass up. Rhodes said he intends to be the youngest WWE Champion in history. Cody said it was strictly business. Orton assumed the fix was in, and Dusty assured him it was. Then the Raw music played to end the segment, in a weird bit.

(1) Six-Diva American Dream Battle Royal- Winner Gets a Shot at Divas Championship Later TonightBeth turned on Mendes pretty quickly and tossed her out in :34. Kelly fought off Jillian and Alicia while Beth worked on Gail. Fox was tossed by Jillian at 1:05, and Kelly went right after. Kim tried to take Beth out and got her to the apron. Kim gave her some right hands, then Gail bounced Beth’s head off the buckle. Jillian and Kim traded turns on the apron. Kim went underneath Jillian and tried to thrwo her out, but couldn’t. Kim missed a springboard cross-body. Beth was out of the match for a minute or so as Kim and Hall continued going at it. Jillian avoided a hurricanrana (poorly, I might add). Kim hung onto the top rope on an elimination attempt and Jillian resorted to biting her hand to eliminate her. Kim kicked her in the head and brought her over and she was eliminated. Then Beth snuck up and pushed Kim out right after.

Winner: Phoenix, at 3:54. Eliminating Fox second when she went over last week? Strange. Aside from Kim, Phoenix going over is the one who made most sense here.

-Chris Jericho came out. His match is next.

[Commercial Break]

(2) Chris Jericho vs. MVPJericho and MVP did some mat wrestling to start, then Jericho got tired of it and wailed MVP with his right forearm. Back suplex by Jericho for a two-count. Both men got to their feet and traded rights, with MVP getting the best of the exchange. Belly-to-belly throw on Jericho, but he tried to get a face to the knee, which Jericho avoided and attempted a Walls of Jericho. MVP kicked Jericho off, but Chris ran into a big boot for two. Flying clothesline got two. Springboard dropkick with MVP on the apron by Jericho (though it showed a fair amount of light). Break time!

[Commercial Break]

MVP battled out of a rest-hold and caught Jericho in the mid-section with a right hand as Y2J came off the ropes. Jericho stopped the momentum though and landed a face-buster. Lionsault missed and both men were down. Low dropkick by MVP, then the “Ballin’!” elbowdrop. Playmaker reversed into a Walls. That was reversed to an Inside Cradle for two (Jericho, one of the best at kicking out RIGHT before three). Codebreaker out of nowhere for three.

Winner: Jericho, at 8:51. Fine match. Your usual mid-card Raw match.

-Dusty was backstage looking through the WCW DVD when DX came up to him. Triple H told him that Cody and Teddy are disgraces to their father’s heritage. Dusty said it’s OK, because Dusty has a lot of influence with him and he could convince Cody to give one of them a shot when he wins tonight. DX then argued about which one of them deserved a title shot more. They agreed to settle it at home, then said they had nothing to do on the show. Dusty told them to hang out with him tonight and they’ll watch the DVD. HBK got a cheap and obvious plug in for the DVD. Then Dusty held up his own Dusty Rhodes DVD to plug. Triple H interrupted and said he hates shameless plugs. Hunter said if fans are shopping, they should pick up the New and Improved DX DVD. All three of them stood their, mugging, holding their wares. HHH warned Dusty that he should help HBK with the DVD because he did break the projector at Summerslam after all.

-Hornswoggle was walking, dressed as a cowboy (and with Cade & Murdoch’s music in the background). Dusty’s most famous gimmick match, a Texas Bullrope Match, is next.

[Commercial Break]

(3) Hornswoggle vs. Chavo Guerrero-Texas Bull Rope MatchWhile Hornswoggle was dressed as a cowboy, Chavo was dressed as a....well....cow. Before he hooked Chavo up to the rope, referee Noah Wilson (formerly Justin King) got another piece for the suit....a giant cow head. He held it up like a championship belt. Cole said he hoped Chavo didn’t strain his calf tonight. Horny punched Chavo a couple times, then rode him. Chavo bucked him off, then booted Hornswoggle down. Chavo took the hat off and Wilson tried to put it back on. He went up for a Frogsplash, but Evan Bourne came down and distracted him. Hornswoggle pulled him off by the rope then put the cow head on him backward so he couldn’t see. Hornswoggle tied the rope around him and picked up the win.

Winner: Hornswoggle, at 1:59. Terrible, if only for listening to Cole and Lawler’s fake laughs.

After the match, Chavo took Bourne down then set his sights on Horny. Horny dodged a charge and bit Chavo in the butt. Then Bourne took Chavo down and Hornswoggle hit the Tadpole splash, with the cow head on. “What a mooooooove” said Cole. Just terrible.

-They showed “Tale of the Tape” for Big Show and Mark Henry. Lots of big numbers up there. Big Show was walking backstage, as the match is next.

[Commercial Break]

(4) Big Show vs. Mark HenryMichael Cole mentioned that the WWE Championship has changed hands four times in Detroit. Couple lock-ups went no where, but appeared to frustrate Big Show. Test of strength again appeared to be a draw, until Henry got the upper hand. Show put a knee to the gut to stop that. Couple headbutts to Henry, which did as much damage to Show as it did to Henry. Show went to do his corner chop, but Henry countered with a knee. Side headlock by Henry to wear down Show even more. That went on for some time. Lawler tried to talk up the damage that move could do when applied by someone like Mizark. Show got into the ropes but he cheap-shotted Henry instead of a clean break. Spear by Show, which Cole compared to a collision between two tractor trailers. Shoulder in the gut in the corner by Show. Henry fought out, then splashed Big Show in the corner. And another. He took Show off his feet with a giant chest-bump, then splashed Show, but only for two. Henry tried another splash, but Show got his elbow up. He tried to take off the corner pad, but Charles Robinson caught him. Henry missed a charge and ran into the buckle, causing the ref to call for the DQ.

Winner: Henry, via DQ, at 5:19. This could’ve been a lot worse. Well booked, if not slightly boring.

Show knocked Show out with a big right hand after the match.

-DiBiase went up to Rhodes backstage and asked if he was ready. Cody said he’s ready to make an impact. Then Orton walked in and said to remember, whatever happens in that ring tonight is just business. Cody appeared a bit shaken by having his words thrown back in his face.

-Coming up next: United States Title on the line in a Fatal Four-Way.

[Commercial Break]

-DX and Rhodes were watching the finger poke of doom, Hulk Hogan vs. Kevin Nash. Dusty said that’s when the fall started. Rhodes said he didn’t let that happen, in fact, it was a friend of theirs, Big Sexy. Triple H said if he was there, they wouldn’t have let him do something like that. They said Rhodes shouldn’t have let it happen, and Rhodes disputed that WCW lost the Monday Night War. Michaels said they won in the ratings because they had all those former WWE stars. Rhodes asked Michaels when he won his championships, the joke being, it was during WCW’s winning of the war. Triple H said they made a big comeback after Wrestlemania 14, the show which was Michaels’ last for several years as a performer. Michaels got upset at what they were implying. He walked off in a huff and Trips said he was still mad about not being a part of the attitude Era. Back to WCW, Triple H made fun of WCW for dressing Marc Mero up like Johnny B. Badd and said whoever came up with that was stupid. Dusty said that was him. Michaels broke up the awkward tension with more yelling back in the picture.

(5) Carlito vs. Jack Swagger vs. The Miz vs. Kofi Kingston- Fatal Four-Way for the United States ChampionshipMiz started the match off by going to the outside. Kofi had to fight off Carlito and Swagger, and Swagger hit a belly-to-belly, then was thrown out by Carlito. Carlito went for a pin, but Miz broke it up and threw Carlito out of the ring. Miz body-dropped Carlito onto Miz. Kofi then dumped Miz out and dove onto all three of them. The match continued after THIS!

[Commercial Break]

Swagger had Kofi in a half-crab. Miz tried to fight off Kofi and Carlito while pinning Swagger, which didn’t work. Miz went for his corner clothesline on Kofi, but Miz hit a springboard clothesline on him. Kofi came off the top with a cross-body on Carlito and Miz, but Carlito had his back to him and fell awkwardly. Swagger with a Vader Bomb for two on Carlito. Then he did it to Miz, but Miz got his knees up. Kofi slammed Carlito onto Swagger, then did his “Boom Boom” legdrop for two. Miz with a corner clothesline on Carlito. Skull Crushing Finale by Miz on Swagger. Miz got back-cracked, but Kofi hit Trouble in Paradise, and sweetly I might add, to Carlito and got the win.

Winner: Kingston, at 8:30. Solid enough match.

-Tonight, the WWE Championship is on the line as Randy Orton faces Cody Rhodes with John Cena as special ref.

[Commercial Break]

-A special thanks given to Lynyrd Skynyrd for supplying the theme to Breaking Point.

(6) Beth Phoenix vs. Mickie James- Divas Championship MatchMickie tried a headlock take-over, but Beth stopped her in her tracks. Beth got Mickie up for a powerslam, but slammed her back first into the turnbuckle. Beth continued to kick away as Mickie tried to get to her feet. Dropkick by Beth that sent Mickie, still on the mat, shoulder-first into the post. Beth with a shoulder-breaker for two. Mickie fought out of a rest hold and fought back, favoring her left arm. Low dropkick by Mickie for two. Mickie with a hurricanrana. Mickie was going up to the top, but Beth knocked her off the turnbuckle and she took a hard spill to the outside. The onslaught continued, with Beth throwing Mickie shoulder-first into the barricade. Pin inside the ring only got two. Beth with a hard running kick to the shoulder. Mickie countered a move into a DDT nicely and it apparently knocked Beth out, as Mickie was able to get the pin.

Winner: Mickie, at 4:48. Good match, and they had me thinking Beth was going to win.

-More hijinks with DX and Dusty. Triple H was still reading the inside of the WCW DVD case. Rhodes said WCW had some great things, like Flair, Magnum TA and Sting. Triple H said WCW’s greatest moment was not in there: The Shockmaster. Dusty looked worried and HBK asked what it was. Dusty told him to ignore it. Triple H filled Michaels in on the Shockmaster situation. When HHH mentioned the creepy voice, one came over the PA and said Triple H and Shawn Michaels’ name. There was a yellow wall to the left of them, and after a sparkler display, someone walked through, fell and dropped their helmet. He put it back on and told DX he’d shock them. Turned out, the voice was coming from Arn Anderson, who was standing to the side of the wall. I guess that was as close to getting Ole Anderson as they could get. He ran away when he was spotted. DX left and Dusty told Santino, dressed as Shockmaster, “it should’ve worked!”

[Commercial Break]

-Josh Mathews (why are you yelling? You have a microphone!) was backstage with John Cena. He told Cena the fate of the WWE Title lies in his hands. Cena started in full hype mode. Cena started talking about Cody not needing to live in someone else’s shadow, if he won. He said it could also lead to the end of Legacy and make Orton’s career crumble. He said tomorrow’s headline WON’T read: “John Cena gives Cody Rhodes the WWE Championship.” Cena said Rhodes will have to do so by being the better man. He said if Orton retains, so be it. Cena said the champion will run into a brick friggin’ wall at Breaking Point, emphasizing that he will not quit.

-Cole and Lawler talked on camera about what could happen in the main event. They hyped up the card thus far for Breaking Point.-Randy Orton came out for the main event. Dusty was giving Cody a pep talk backstage. Match is next.

[Commercial Break]

(7) Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton- WWE Championship Match with John Cena as Special RefereeAs promised, Dusty joined Cody as he came to the ring. Cena checked Orton for weapons, which he didn’t like. Dusty started up the stairs and said, “Like I said, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for my son. Sorry, John.” Then Cody and Orton attacked Cena. Ted DiBiase then came out to join them. After a few minutes, DX ran to the ring and were able to fend off Legacy, three-on-one. Then Dusty got in the ring and clocked Triple H with his boot. He just can’t take those boots- they really leave him lying. With him out, Legacy continued their attack on Michaels with ease. DiBiase, Orton, and the Rhodes men stood in the ring with their arms raised after the beating. Then, Orton gave Dusty an RKO as Cody looked angry and upset. He was screaming in agony for his father. He cooled down a bit in the corner, but still looked upset as Raw went off the air. The ending was a bit weird, but I'll take it.

Aww. I had the joke all written up and ready to go: "Truly, the ending was the best WCW impression of them all."

The end really worked for me, because it made sense. At the top of the show, Cody Rhodes thinks he and Randy are friends. Towards the end of the show, Cody is SURE they are best friends. By the final end of the show, Cody realizes he's nothing more than a bitch and there's nothing he can do about it.

Show - Henry was suffering from some serious Show - Kane style snoreathon setbacks. Mark seems to have lost all his indie cred as soon as he started smiling and dressing like Santa.

Discard that and the usual Hornswoggle mess, and it was the best RAW in a loooooong time.

I disagree. The ending was actually all kinds of awesome! I was expecting Cody to turn on Dusty and then a beatdown assume. I liked Cody's reaction to the old man eating a RKO and really liked Orton's reaction to Cody's to it. I actually wanted to see Cody do something about it.

I like the idea that Orton is willing to throw away his backup in order to keep the WWE title. Orton gets more and more creepy as each week passes. I'll say it, I have been entertained this week. Let's see it continue. And Bob Barker as host? Anyone else smell a Bob Barker vs Adam Sandler return match from Happy Gilmore?

I liked Dusty's first order of business giving his son a title shot. "The fix is in!" I wish Dusty had said, "the outcome is pre-determined, if you will!" He should have. They were shooting anyway, it turns out.

The first DX sketch was painful comedy, except for Shawn holding that goofy smile for five minutes. The Shockmaster sketch was a million times funnier the first time. You can't parody something that surreal; it could never be as funny and the joke was lost on most of the youngster WWE audience. The second sketch though, wow, one of the weirdest ever. Shots at Marc Mero and Kevin Nash, and then belaboring how Shawn Michaels ignited the Attitude Era with DX and then spent the next four years missing it entirely. So weird, but it was entertaining.

I was so sure Mickie James was dropping the Divas Title, mainly because today is her 30th birthday. Now, I'm guessing any idea of a heel turn for her is dropped. You don't book a plucky babyface to overcome a shoulder injury and overwhelming odds to beat a bigger, stronger arch rival if you're just going to turn her heel.

The US Title tier has an awful lot of talent. The Miz's finish, which Cole repeated 17 times, is the Skull Crushing Finale? That's stupid. Why not call it the Finishing Move That Hurts? Except it doesn't, it's just the Stroke.

Umm... did I miss that Randy Orton was Dusty Rhodes's son? Because I'm pretty sure that Cody didn't say to Dusty "Hey, instead of me wrestling for the most prestigeous title in my sport, can we beat down the guy who challenging my friend in 2 weeks, you know, the dude who punted you in the head 2 yrs ago and shown absolutely no loyalty to anyone during his career?"

I mean, it worked in the sense of it got a lot of heat, but in the end, it just made Cody look like a pussy. Then again, I tend not to take these things so seriously, cause Rhodes and DiBiase are a LONG way away from looking like any sort of credible threat. It 3 weeks, if the pattern holds true, this will all be (basically) forgotten.

Kevin Kelly: "Mr. Austin, would you like to comment on Wade Keller's Take that endorsing the XFL hurts your anti-authority character?"

Steve Austin: "Oh shit, he actually said that? I thought the boys in the back were ribbing me!"

Kelly: "No, he really said that. Did they tell you the part about you sitting in the stands, looking all skeptical?"

I think Cody has been trying to get bigger to catch up with Ted since everyone thinks Ted will get the push because he's got more size -- while Cody has always been a promising talker. Plus his acting background was on full display: THE TEAR! Ric Flair is the only other wrestler I've ever seen who was able to method cry on command, the only difference was that Flair was never acting, he's just a weeper.

Originally posted by DMSI mean, it worked in the sense of it got a lot of heat, but in the end, it just made Cody look like a pussy.

Cody idolizes Randy and wants them to be superpals. And instead of leading to their ultimate moment of friendship, the devotion he showed to Randy ended up getting his dad beat up. And they avoided doing the exact same thing as when Ted Sr. hosted. It was compelling & stuff!

Well, at leasta) we didn't get a fingerpoke of doom, followed by the inevitable "those who don't learn from history" message board postsb) we can explain away Goldust's nonpresence, 'cause Goldust wouldn't cotton to being a part of that slop

You know, fans, that bullrope match was also a (probably totally unintended) callback to those happy months when Dusty Rhodes & Chris Cruise would present the "Prime Match of the Week on WCW Prime" - aka the MOOOOOOOOOOOOOO match. Thus ends this week's "reference three people might get if any of them ever visited here and read this thread"

Originally posted by DMSI mean, it worked in the sense of it got a lot of heat, but in the end, it just made Cody look like a pussy.

Cody idolizes Randy and wants them to be superpals. And instead of leading to their ultimate moment of friendship, the devotion he showed to Randy ended up getting his dad beat up. And they avoided doing the exact same thing as when Ted Sr. hosted. It was compelling & stuff!

(edited by JustinShapiro on 31.8.09 2336)

I'm glad you brought up the Orton/DiBiase match because THAT was a great storyline (that hasn't really been followed up on). Everyone acted in a somewhat logical manner. Ted Jr had his big chance and wanted to challenge for the ultimate goal. Randy all but called him a punk and didn't take him seriously. He gave a great fight and Randy came out on top. When his father came to him, Ted Jr (feeling embarrassed) struck out on his father. It made sense in a storyline POV and more importantly, Ted Jr WANTED to take his opportunity.

The storyline is solid in theory (I think everyone has been in a position where we wanted someone to like us at any cost... usually a woman) but when watching any show, movie or event, a viewer wants to put him or herself in the place of the person they are watching. Someone who's invested anything into the character of Cody Rhodes tonight would come away confused or just pissed off, because he didn't act in anyway how a person in his position would. Why WOULDN'T he want to become champ? I get the part about idolizing Randy and wanting to be his friend, but I'm assuming that one day, the WWE wants to make some sort of money off of Cody and Ted and having them come off as insecure idolizing fanboys to a guy that just got pinned by a 64 yr old doesn't exactly spell money. The last thing a viewer saw was a crowd chanting a guy's name to kick the ass of the dude who just assaulted his dad and he slunk in the corner and did nothing. That doesn't exactly = T-shirt sales. I would be more optimistic if I felt that the WWE had some grand plan about how Cody (or Ted) will see that 'enough is enough' but I've been down this road with them too many times to know that this will somehow end up with Triple H holding the belt.

My other complaint is that if Dusty wanted to assault John Cena to 'help his son', why go in such a Rube Goldberg way of doing it? Why not just book a 3 on 1 No-Holds-Barred match which accomplishes the same thing (in storyline terms)? Or book a Cody/Cena match? Who was Dusty trying to fool? The fans? DX?

Kevin Kelly: "Mr. Austin, would you like to comment on Wade Keller's Take that endorsing the XFL hurts your anti-authority character?"

Steve Austin: "Oh shit, he actually said that? I thought the boys in the back were ribbing me!"

Kelly: "No, he really said that. Did they tell you the part about you sitting in the stands, looking all skeptical?"

In the battle royal, when they did that thing where they cut from Beth on the apron, started keeping her out of the shot, and didn't mention her, were they thinking that we have such short attention spans that we'd actually forget about it, or that we'd actually find the end more compelling if they kept her out of the shot for a while? Because either way, they're wrong.

Good Raw. Don't see the point in yet another Cena beat down but seeing Cody actually cry over the beat down of Rhodes I think may have given him a huge push in a few months.

Seems Henry has gotten stronger, Show is now selling Henry's strength but when they would meet a few years ago, it always was a standoff in the power department. But the match was better than I expected from those two. People will watch the PPV to see who bodyslams who.

Why doesn't Jillian ever get credit for being the 2nd strongest female on the roster?

4 Way was good but not PPV quality.

Please can this Hornswoggle stuff stop. WWE must really see something in this continuing though.

No Jericho on the microphone tonight????

The Arn Anderson spot doing the voice for the Shockmaster was really funny. People under 30 wouldn't have understood that segment at all.

There's not much they can do with Beth Phoenix now. But I do believe they could if they would sign a female super-heavyweight to go up against Phoenix (a Bertha Faye type monster). the Indy women's group have plenty of them out there, they could sign one for a 3 month deal to program with Phoenix.

At least Chavo is not having to really wrestle but remains on the payroll.

Originally posted by DirtyMikeSeaver WWE wants to make some sort of money off of Cody and Ted and having them come off as insecure idolizing fanboys to a guy that just got pinned by a 64 yr old doesn't exactly spell money.

You can't really count anything that involves Vince. He's so wildly insecure to the point of having a severe emotional problem at this point, that no matter how horrendously ridicutarded it might be, he will put himself over anyone he can at any turn. I mean, pinning his World Champion with Austin's help in 1999 was shit-brained THEN, and now he's literally a senior citizen. It doesn't matter that he needed help both times. A non-athlete shouldn't be pinning any champions, least of all world champions, especially not a geriatric non-athlete. In fact, I would extend that from champions to anyone on a roster you have any regard for from a creative standpoint. He really shouldn't even be shouting people down anymore; I don't care if it's teeny little Evan Bourne. That birthday segment last week goes to the same idea: Vince making things revolve around his senile perception of himself as a draw. Easily some of the worst shit I've ever seen...Hunter and Shawn talking about Vince being old for half an hour. Hunter and Shawn, the two oldest guys on the RAW other than Vince himself. And no sense of irony there, either. Though I guess I should just try not to jinx that he isn't groping divas young enough to be his grand-daughters any longer.

Originally posted by DirtyMikeSeaver Who was Dusty trying to fool? The fans?

Not the "fans"...the PUHLIC!

Ahem. Well, DirtyMike, I will say this: booking a 3 on 1 handicap match would have made more sense but it wouldn't have made for more interesting teevee, and it's been done and done to death. This was fairly intriguing. Orton is still a Luger-like black hole of non-charisma, but this was the best use of him. Cena walking into another trap like a goofball doesn't help his cause, and I kinda felt sorry for him: finally a crowd that seemed totally behind him pop-wise, and he got metaphorically pantsed in front of them. Oh well, such is life.

The backstage segments were good.

It was a good show, but only compared to the last several weeks of borderline unwatchable crap. There's still a Chavo/Hornswaggle segment every week, where a match could be, every combo of female talent possible has been run through, and the only consistently entertaining division they've got on their roster, the U.S. title scene, is bogged down. A lot of good talent there, yes, but no one is getting a chance to shine because they're all crammed into one all-too-brief segment each week. Kofi, for the #2 Champ on the show, gets no mic time and no character development, and his connection with the audience is entirely contingent on whatever wild-lookin stuff he does minute-to-minute.

All told, the RAW brand is still a mess. It just didn't show this week as it does most.

I thought it was one of their best shows in a long time. I liked the Dusty turn as well as the RKO on Dusty. I really think we are seeing the end of Legacy which is good and bad. Its good, because its gone on for awhile now and bad, because I don't think it helped Cody and Ted like it was supposed to. Cody's acting is not as bad as it good have been, but this segment did more in its five minutes then the last year or so to tell a good story about Legacy. The women's division is still light years away from the Knockouts even with a good effort from Mickie and Beth. Gail seemed to regress since coming to the WWE.

Chavo/Hornswaggle needs to end like three weeks ago. At least the mid card which includes the tag division is really stepping up. I am actually excited about the tag match at Breaking Point which is a first. Hopefully, we can get a US title match on this PPV.

I swore Mickie popped an implant the way she was holding her left side. She and Beth don't hold anything back in the ring when they punch and kick each other, and I like it!I damned near shit my pants when I saw Dusty kicking his boot off, and then he used it on Hunter! YEAH!!!!!

DX and Dusty should do 20 minutes a week riffing on the failures of old WCW. Santino can dress up as a horrible idea next week. He and Charlie Hass can start as the Ding Dongs on the next show.

As for why not just book a 3-on-1 match, let's look at it in show logic. John Cena is a fighting machine. He never says die, and he'll walk into a fight ready to go. You know he will fight against all the odds no matter what they are. So what do you do? You have to get him to let his guard down, even just the slighest bit. Make the attack come from an angle he's not ready for. Dusty brilliantly played on his own image, on the past history between him and Orton, on the previous time a Legacy father hosted, and on the easy to believe idea a father wants to help his son. All of which gave Legacy the chance to get Cena to drop his guard for just a moment and not be ready to fight back. Well played Stardust, well played.

Originally posted by lotjxODB is still champ and I see her keeping since D'Amota is back booking the division. The Tag Tournament looks good plus the roster includes:

The Beautiful PeopleODBTaraKongCheerleader MelissaSaritaDaffneyTaylor WildeA returning hardcore lady according to the spoilersHamadaChristy Hemme and more

compared to BethMichelleMickieMariaGailJillianMelina and others.

I'll take the TNA line-up any day of the week.

Talent-wise I'd say the two rosters are about comparable. The Beautiful People still can't work, ditto Hemme. Wilde is okay, on the same level as Jillian. ODB has yet to have an actual memorable match that I can think of. Melisa is stuck with bad gimmicks and the role of female jobber. And since Gail left the division has been booked terribly. Personal preference might give TNA the edge in your eyes, but to say the division is "light years" ahead is kinda silly.

On the topic of Raw: the main thread of the show was aces. Dusty's actions were entirely logical, but also hard to predict ahead of time. And Legacy getting the final say was vital after last week.

I got a kick out of the "make fun of Shawn" stuff. At least HHH was nice enough to point out IN CASE YOU DIDN'T GET IT, that Shawn missed out on the attitude era. However, "the finger poke was bad, but at least he didn't lose his smile" was right there for Dusty and he passed up on it.

My fiance asked "why do they keep embarrassing that Chavo guy? My reply was "at least he doesn't have Pepe any more" which I had to explain.

I love Big Dusty, so that was a good show for me, right down to the 4 Horsemen style beatdown compliments of the original victim of the Horsemen.